Best of 2003: Best Bike Ride

Coronado and the Silver Strand

For comfort and beauty, the route leading south from the Coronado Ferry Landing is hard to beat. The views across the bay to downtown San Diego are engrossing enough to be dangerous, but beyond the Coronado Bridge, where the path runs along the golf course, pedestrian traffic thins out. Turning left onto Glorietta Boulevard, you share the road with cars for a mile or so, but next to the Coronado Yacht Club, a separate eight-foot-wide bicycle highway appears, one of the longest in the county. It runs through the Naval Amphibious Base, past Silver Strand State Beach, all the way to the end of San Diego Bay. You can wend your way back up the east side of the bay over mostly city streets, but it's more fun to return to Coronado and take the bike-friendly ferry (if you're returning to San Diego).